A Quintillion is a Billion of Billions and in figures it would be, 1,000,000,000,000,000,000. Why would this figure be important to us?
It is important in the context that the energy we humans consume on earth is measured in Joules and One ExaJoule (EJ), is equal to One Quintillion of Joules. A joule is a unit of energy. Hope we are getting to understand the picture.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) presented a paper in the year 2000 at the World Energy Assessment Forum (WEAF) that the annual estimated renewable solar energy dispensed by the Sun was between 1,575 and 49,387 ExaJoules (EJ).
Now that is a mind boggling figure to any layman, but to experts in the field of producing and calculating energy, it is a measure they come across on a daily basis.
Compare the potential of solar energy that we can derive annually from the Sun, with the total energy that we humans consume annually to sustain ourselves, which is a minuscule 559.8 ExaJoules (EJ).
This is all forms of energy combined. Hydro power, diesel power, wind power, nuclear power, wave power, and a fraction from solar power too.
What is photovoltaics, the importance of solar power installations have still not been acknowledged by the powers that be, for reasons unknown. We have free access to the Sun in all nooks and corners of our beautiful Earth, but we are not drawing its full potential. It shines bright from sunrise to dusk and then dips away on the horizon without us taking full advantage of its daily appearance.
Solar panels are not cumbersome or messy contraptions to have around us. In most commercial and residential buildings they are unobtrusively installed high on the roofs. The solar panels work silently with no environmental damage providing cheap and clean energy 24 x 7 all year round.
The answer to the quintillion question is why are we, looking all over when we have an abundance of energy right above us.
What is Photovoltaics
Getting our act together
Even today the most advanced solar panel that we have developed converts solar power at about 20% efficiency. This is hoped would improve with the Research and Development (R&D) that is presently underway in most laboratories around the world.
Every solar electric company worth its salt is striving very hard to bring that elusive technology to optimum levels which would see the light of day very soon in the near future. Along with that, you should also have a clear understanding about what is photovoltaic energy.
As long as we have the Sun providing us solar energy, we can confidently spend time and money to find the best answers in the future. We know that the Sun is cooling down, but that would be in a few billion years hence we need not have any anxieties about that happening in the near future.
Over the last century or so the world has experimented with many forms of energy sources to sustain our massive industries, transportation and our humble homes.
The list of energy sources we have tried our hands with, is not very impressive when compared to the damage they have done to our environment and the much talked about Ozone layer.
Top of the list is oil, which has been prolifically used by us since its discovery and has contributed largely to the problems we are having with our very existence. We now look at the atmosphere and cry that it has created a hole in the Ozone layer.
We have unabashedly used oil in the name of development and are now reaping its negative results. The continuous dependence on oil is not going to bode well for our future generations.
Oil is said to exhaust itself in a few hundred years and when that happens, and if we are not ready we will be left in the darkness with a destroyed planet to live the rest of our lives in despair.
The dangerous nuclear option
Apart from oil, we extracted Uranium and delved our hands into Nuclear power generation, which has given us two major warnings about its devastating effect when they go awry. The Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters are ample evidence for us to open our eyes.
When we were experimenting with dangerous raw materials for our energy requirements the Sun was waiting patiently above us smiling as to when sanity would dawn on us, to provide free, clean, and renewable energy all through the year.
What is solar photovoltaic?
We needed to technologically advance the solar panel or photovoltaic cell and its related paraphernalia and obtain free energy to sustain ourselves. Converting solar energy to solar power is our future and finding the right cost effective combination is the solution for all our energy requirements.
Hence, photovoltaics solar energy has received a lot of attention in the recent past.
What is photovoltaics Electricity generated by solar energy is as good as any other. The misconception that solar power may not be ideal for heavy machinery is just hearsay. Whichever way you generate electricity of which there are any, it will provide the same supply and power.
The process is very simple when you generate electricity using the Sun’s light and heat radiation. The solar panel absorbs both light and heat radiation called photons from the Sun, and through the process called photovoltaic it would produce electricity.
What is photovoltaics, Electricity so produced is in DC form hence has to be converted to AC form for use by any appliance, machinery or other unit. The DC electricity is stored in a battery, which maintains the charge at optimum levels. An inverter converts the DC in the battery to AC and then supplies it for desired use.
Due to this reason, PV solar systems have received a lot of attention in the recent past as well.
The electricity so produced is able to start and propel any machinery big or small. Solar power is fast becoming the world’s source of energy. With countries awakening up to the huge potential that it possesses, are now encouraging the generation of solar power by offering many incentives.
What is Photovoltaics – Solar energy is the answer
Germany is phasing off its Nuclear power generation and is expected to depend on solar power and other renewable environmentally friendly sources to run this massive industrialized nation. Germany is today generating about 36 Gigawatts of electricity utilizing solar energy which is the highest in the world.
Countries in the Middle East which are the major oil producers are also joining the bandwagon and moving towards harnessing solar energy to produce solar power. The United Arab Emirates in the year 2013 commissioned the massive 100 megawatt Shams Solar Power station in the Abu Dhabi desert and are planning two others the Shams II and III in the future.
Hence the misconception that solar power is not suitable for heavy machinery has to be laid to rest once and for all. Now read my informative article, Pros and Cons of Solar Energy
